Travelers: Beaches of Bangladesh, Chatting on Indian Trains…

I hope y’all are enjoying your holiday travels. For me it’s yet another December spent at home on the East Coast, followed by 3 days of hard-core academia at the annual South Asian Literary Association and Modern Language Association conferences. (Note: I’m not really complaining: this year we are blessed by the presence of a smiling, gurgling little baby. But yeah, a change of scenery would still be nice.)

Travel journalists, by contrast, get to have leisurely travels all the time — for work. Today I was particularly drawn by a recent New York Times article about visiting beaches in Bangladesh, and a Times of London travelogue (thanks, Indianoguy) of a reporter’s trip all around India. Going to the beaches of Bangladesh (on the eastern tip, near the border of Burma/Myanmar) is something I would never have thought of doing, but it actually makes perfect sense. Incidentally, the tourist board’s official motto is perhaps unintentionally comical, but actually works despite itself: “Visit Bangladesh Before Tourists Come.”

And my favorite bit from the London Times travelogue is about a train ride to Jhansi:

Train journeys here are great levellers. Few Indians frantically fill their time, as westerners do, with work or reading. They regard the journeys as a chance to “interact” and talk, about anything from the price of aubergines to the finer points of Tantric meditation. By the time they get off, they’re exchanging business cards and pledging eternal friendship.

As fillings turned to extractions, the cabin attendant slouched past with an urn of peppery tomato soup, which he served in plastic cups (they would have been biodegradeable pottery cups five years ago). He scattered it with a handful of croutons from his pocket. The lady dentist seized her moment. “How does your daily routine here compare with back home?” she asked.. “How does India compare with UK?”

I said the UK is ordered, startlingly quiet and clean in comparison, and that its people are reserved and, in places, few and far between. I mentioned North Ronaldsay, the Orkney island which is three miles long and one mile wide, and has a population of less than 50. “Amazing!” said the dentist. And I described how my wife and I go walking in the Derbyshire Peak District and sometimes meet no more than six or seven people in four hours. “Astonishing!” said the biotechnology student.

He had a point. In the packed 3rd class carriage next door, some sort of evolutionary struggle for survival seemed to be going on. I said that British trains sometimes travel with as few as a dozen passengers. And that, if it’s even ten minutes late, there could be a riot.

This was a lie, but it seemed pretty relevant, as our train was now four rather than three hours late. (link)

I especially like the point about how mass-transit in the west is largely anti-social, while the experience in India (or perhaps all of South Asia?) is the opposite. (Does anyone have favorite subcontinental train/plane/bus experiences they want to share?)

Incidentally, if you’re sick of reading about western travelers in India (while they’re far from uniform, the stories always seem to have comments on the crazy traffic patterns and the smell), there are some great “internal” desi travel stories up at OkTataByeBye.com. I thought this in-depth article on Lucknow was an especially good read. And there are plenty more.

47 thoughts on “Travelers: Beaches of Bangladesh, Chatting on Indian Trains…

  1. I love the food on Indian trains! And each station has certain things it’s famous for, like pettha (I forget which station has it, somewhere between Hyderabad and Delhi, for those who don’t know it’s a cloyingly sweet pumpkin halva with crystallized sugar, kind of like crystallized ginger), Nagpur oranges, vallepam and mutta curry in Trichur, mango jelly somewhere in Andhra on the Hyderabad-Madras route…the best part of every train journey was anticipating the delicious treats at various stops. The vallepam and mutta (egg) curry ranks among the best meals I’ve every had, and it was served in a flimsy plastic bag; the appams were like soft clouds, and the curry was spicy and delicious. We also always packed a ton of food and then shared with other passengers in the same cubicle. And the coffee and tea on trains for some reason is always amazing. The official railway food generally leaves something to be desired, except for the vegetable cutlets and soup on the Kalka-Shimla train.

    Traveling by train in India is such a unique experience–I’ve never seen anything like it in other parts of the world. It’s so sterile here on Amtrak by comparison (and the food is so lousy).

    The train tracks run right by where I work and I always stop and listen when a freight train goes by, because the sound of the wheels sounds like a passenger train in India, lulling you to sleep in the top berth…

  2. This isn’t a fave but definitely unforgettable…The last time I went to India (which was 4 years ago, granted, I’m due for another trip next Christmas…)

    I got bitch-slapped on the train! Forgot X-white person’s cute little memories of the sweet and servile tea servers and chatty carriage companions…I got a totally undeserved thwack! across my arm from a woman yelling a stream of something in Marathi that did not sound like ‘Oops sorry for getting mad at you for nothing, tiny foreign-living child, I’m such a silly cow…’

    …Well I didn’t really understand the whole unspoken ‘move sideways’ rule when getting off Bombay trains and got off as a normal person would, inadvertently blocking about 5 million people who were trying to get on…

    luckily because I was raised in the rude, selfish and heartless west, I knew how to bitch-slap back 😉

  3. (Does anyone have favorite subcontinental train/plane/bus experiences they want to share?)

    Delhi-Jodhpur train travel. It is a long, amazing train travel through the Thar Desert, it stops in some stations in Rajasthan where they have amazing Malai Makhan (thicker version of lassi).

  4. Oh, I’d have so many if I counted all the train journeys when I was growing up.

    My recent favorite story is from last winter (2005) when I traveled around by bus in South India, Mainly Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, the Govt buses are cheap. They are shoddy, sad-looking things which look like they might break apart any second. However, no matter how bad the condition of the bus, they invariably have 2 things: A TV/DVD player combo, and a pair of extremely LOUD speakers.

    In the week that I traveled in TN, I was completely forced to acquaint myself and appreciate the histrionic abilities of Rajnikanth. (I’m from Mumbai, and speak no Tamil or any Southie language whatsoever).

    The nicest memory? Whenever I got onto any of these buses, the conductor took one look at me, invariably walked over to the DVD player and turned on the English subs.

  5. Train journeys in India are awesome, the long rides are less boring when you have so much going on!

  6. desushiksha, Agra petha is famous. Dry and crunchy and sweet. Kaddu exalted. And at Rewari (Delhi-Jaipur line) you get rewari. And almost everywhere you get sweet garam chai.

  7. In September 2001, in a span of two days I traveled all the way from the border with Pakistan at Wagha (near Amritsar) till Puri in Orissa – basically from one end of the country till another on the Rajdhani Express. On the day of my return trip to Delhi (from Bhubaneswar), the Communist Party of India had called a strike – which wasn’t taken seriously in most parts of the country. There was some agitation in the station at Bhubaneswar but it was controlled by the police. However, when we entered Bengal – where the CPI is still strong – there was trouble. The employees went on strike and the train halted in Kharagpur for about 8 hours. It wasn’t all that bad – about 6 cups of tea, boiled eggs (dim boil in Bengali), samosas (singra), etc.

    I think the best way of seeing India is on train. I usually stand near the exit of the carriage (the door is suposed to be closed, but I open it) and often end up chatting with someone who’s there for a smoke, or for the same purpose as mine. I love looking out at the open fields, random villages and the rivers that pass by. Having grown up in the urban jungle of Delhi, its a surprising change. The landscape also changes every 200 miles or so.

  8. Hot chais at stations should not be bad at all. You’ve only got to be careful about the water.

    I’ve kinda been wishing for a travel book by Indians for Indians. I am sick of the condescending tones that the Lonely-Planet-type guides take all the time. And somehow they never seem to check their books with someone actually from the region they’re talking about.

  9. I know many train-friendships that converted into family-friendships, and then predictably, marriage… People behave a little differently on planes though.

  10. “(Does anyone have favorite subcontinental train/plane/bus experiences they want to share?)”

    i kept a travel blog this summer while i was in india, but the assholes at blogger mysteriously deleted the blog without warning, claiming it came off as a “spam blog.” meanwhile, a blog i haven’t posted to in over 2 years remains active. there were many a train/plane/bus story to be shared on that blog. i poured my soul into that thing (as well as any minuscule talent i had for writing) and now the poor thing is hopefully in a better place. sigh

  11. The Bombay to Delhi overnight Rajdhani train was an annual ritual for me growing up (this was back in the days before APEX fares and affordable air travel) – learning how to sleep in a chair-car seat stands you in very good stead for the long India-US flights later on in life. Back then, the Rajdhani was known for its good food, or maybe being Panjus we had to compare the food even on different trains, but anyway, we’d order the Continental meal which usually contained a “roast chicken” and limp boiled vegetables of the kind preserved by old cooks in the guest houses of old British companies (anyone remember those? they also usually made a mean caramel custart and chocolate souffle). And there would be a vegetable soup beforehand, and we’d be allowed to get one Five Star chocolate each. This was relatively luxurious compared to the overnight trains the grandparents used to take to visit us in the pre-Rajdhani days, when they carried their own rolled-up bedding and food. On trains that didn’t have good meals, you’d always take along enough food not just for yourself but also to offer anyone else who might be in the compartment with you.

    Last year I travelled in Kerala and realized that the south is waaaay ahead when it comes to train station food – I had some of the best filter coffee, vadas and dosais I’ve ever had in the Trivandrum train station at 6 a.m.

    Classic train-friendship and romance movies exist, particularly centered around Bombay local trains, remember that old Hrishikesh Mukherjee one with Amol Palekar and Tina Munim? And of course the more recent Sathiya.

  12. Desishiksa – someone else who knows the Kalka-Shimla train, OMG! Are you talking about the Rail Car? With the glass roof and the 106 tunnels? That stops at Barog for the best omelettes ever? You can literally put your hand out of the window and touch the rhododendrons. Sigh.

  13. Another beautiful train ride: Between Mumbai and Pune in the monsoon, through the Sahyadris. Green, and spontaneous waterfalls all around.

  14. First, that NYT story on Bangladesh was shamelessly typical of Western reviews of the desh: a two-dimensional image of nature’s beauty trammeled by a poor, dirty, but friendly people. Though my experience was different for a myriad of reasons, I bussed that route from Dhaka to Cox Bazaar this past summer, even swam at the Seagull Hotel and shopped at the Burmese market, and all was much more interesting, complex, and magical than that review would suggest.

    Now, my train story: I traveled by train this past summer from Delhi to Varanasi to Kolkata (then by bus to Dhaka). From Varanasi on, I rode solo. I even had a whole sleeper cabin to myself! For a while, at least. I admit I was a little freaked out because people kept passing by and (I was convinced) peeking through the curtains on their way, so I spent the night reading Feluda mysteries. Great fun, btw. About halfway through the trip, three military men walk into my cabin, look around.. two sit down across from me, one hops up to the bed above me. Startled (just slightly), I jump up then immediately fake calm and serenity… go about my reading. One asked if I was uncomfortable, to prove I was not I replied, in Bangla, which station have we passed? Then back to the reading, the men each to a bed and to sleep. The rest of the night was uneventful; I didn’t get any sleep, though I felt safer. In the morning, I got a chance to talk to the guards. I spent the rest of the ride talking with one of them, about my life abroad, his life there — his English, my (surprisingly good, he said) Bangla. He told me where to buy sharis (the Bangla pronunciation, folks) in Kolkata and I told him sure, Sylvester Stallone is one of my favorite actors as well. It was a wonderful encounter, one of the most memorable of my summer.

  15. if youÂ’re sick of reading about western travelers in India (while theyÂ’re far from uniform, the stories always seem to have comments on the crazy traffic patterns and the smell),

    I have had conversations with patients that ask me about India all the time, and surprisingly, most of them have positive things to say about the chaotic beauty of India, the colors, and of course, the food. It just makes me more proud than ever. And I have to admit, it gives me some restored faith in the western world and its tolerance of all things “backward” and “foreign”. Funnily enough, it was a lot of my Indian friends that I grew up with that hated their travels there. I guess when its all family time (and this was before MTv India) it is a little bit of a lackluster vacation, but I always loved being there and experiencing a my cross-cultural life, whether it be on a noisy train, on the back of an elephant, in an ancient Ambassador, or my personal favorite, the auto-rickshaw.

    On the other hand, I do wonder when plane travel in India will cease to include the bitchiest stewardesses in the world.

  16. South Asian Literary Association and Modern Language Association conferences.

    …otherwise called SALA MLA!

  17. Are you talking about the Rail Car? With the glass roof and the 106 tunnels? That stops at Barog for the best omelettes ever?

    I don’t remember the glass roof, but I think i remember the omelettes. Is it just the mountain air that makes it all taste so good?

    Anyone been on the Palace on Wheels? It’s one of my life dreams to travel like a princess…

  18. My first experience on Indian trains was this summer…. I don’t have any favorites but here’s two of the many I DID have. I’m not sure if it’s good, bad or ugly. You decide. The first link is unbelievable but 100% true. http://www.xanga.com/yLiRaM/497556375/item.html http://www.xanga.com/yLiRaM/552297542/item.html

    I see you are complaining about the toilet. I can vouch for the first class or AC compartment toilets. They are way better and cleaner than the Amtrak toilets(Amtrak is not pretty either, let me tell you). In India you get what you pay for. More money you pay, more comfortable you are.

  19. Third class sleepers, the steam engine spewing charcoal grit that got embedded in your hair, the “hold-all” spread on the hard berth, the chaiwallah pouring sweet hot tea in a little earthenware cup which had an aroma all its own, the camaraderie with the fellow travellers, especially the ubiquitious Bengali families on a “holiday”… it was the early seventies, and my girlfriend and I were so in love. She at college in one town, me in another, with two hundred km of train tracks separating our pining hearts.

    The girlfriend soon became the wife, the train journeys soon gave way to jetsetting to such places as Paris and Tokyo as our station in life advanced. But every once in awhile, we board an Indian train, and even though the First Class AC roomette would not exactly crimp our budget, we choose the far less expensive and yet so romantic second class sleeper.

  20. Anyone been on the Palace on Wheels? It’s one of my life dreams to travel like a princess…

    hopefully next summer :)..it’s been a dream of mine as well…

  21. in 1995, 3 buddies of mine including myself, traveled around south india via trains, planes, and yes automobiles after our summer studying in pune was over…. we expored ooty to kanyakumari.. madhurai to bangalore… bhandhipur to rameshwaram… from living in the jungle in a hut to speding a phat night in a nice place in a hill station… it was simply superb.. one of my most memorable journeys to date..

    we got the 2nd class AC sleeper trains for the longer journeys..the chaiwallas, and the stuff you could buy to eat were amazing.. fortunately none of us got sick…then the taxi cab driver we had hired became the 4th member of our journey and we suddenly became the fantastic 4..

    nowadays we tend to fly in between cities.. and with the plethora of airlines ranging from deccan to jet blue, and special deals (40 bucks roundtrip), it’s hard not to pass up…but i still reminisce about the train journeys… those were the best.

  22. SP: “we’d order the Continental meal which usually contained a “roast chicken” and limp boiled vegetables of the kind preserved by old cooks in the guest houses of old British companies (anyone remember those? they also usually made a mean caramel custart and chocolate souffle).”

    Oh yeah! I have tried making that roast chicken many times, but the secret ingredient is missing.

    Growing up in India, my family always stayed in those old, drafty British guest houses, called Circuit Houses in the part of India I grew up in. My Dad worked for the government, and the stay was always free. I remember the bathrooms the size of starter homes in an American subdivision, with huge claw-footed bath tubs that could easily accommodate my brother and me with room to spare. Damn, the British knew how to live!

  23. When I was 16-17 I joined a friend and his dad on a trip to Mumbai from Pune aboard the famous Deccan Queen, then the fastest train on the Mumbai-Pune route, 3 and half hours for 160 km….. We ate everything the caterers came by with..starting with soggy omelettes, oily vegetable cutlets, hot tea, coffee, tomato soup with the croutons, “chikki” at Lonavla,” kaali maina” (a kind of a berry) at Khandala, Batata vada at Karjat, Parsi dairy Kulfi, …..what am I forgetting?

    Later on, when the expressway was built, the journey to Mumbai by road was cut short to about 2-2.5 hrs and so the train became inconvenient.

  24. Floridian #22,

    it was the early seventies …

    You may be an uncle, but you are too COOL. Your life is alomst like the movies.

  25. have been on trains in several countries and can truly say, there’s nothing like a train journey in india…so many good memories.

    Amardeep, it’s already obvious that you will have your hands full beating off the young ladies when Puran grows up.

    A very Merry Christmas to all those celebrating it today!

  26. This summer took the 2 little macacas from Mysore to Madras on the Shatabdi. The younger liked it okay. The older, a teenager just had a fantastic time. He stocked up on food from the Mysore railway station inspite of his mother telling him that food would be served. Then when the train started the food also started arriving. They brought in so many things that by the time the Bosotto cakes were served closer to Madras EVEN the teenage macaca just had to give up on eating. They loved it. We sometimes do the MysoreBangalore stretch. But recently they have started the volvos and their timings seem to be more convenient. But no stopping for Maddur Vades in Maddur. No hot chaaya or kaapi. It is not the same. The bus may be faster and more convenient but not as much fun for the US macacas. Floridian #22 brought back old memories of the coal engines from Jhansi to Kanpur. I was probably about 5-6. But I remember the black soot. The Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore song Mere Sapno Ki Rani… brings back memories from the Blue Mountain Express to Ooty.

  27. I haven’t traveled on a train in India since I was a child. I would travel every summer during summer vacation from Mumbai to Nasik my maternal and paternal father and spend the summer on the farm and I would be joined by several cousins. I have a faint memory of traveling to Kolhapur & Ratnagiri in Maharashtra & Surat in Gujarat for a wedding by train from Mumbai when I was really young but most of my vivid memories are my Mumbai Nasik travels.

    I would be accompanied by an older cousin or usually my grandmother. We would catch the Central Railway Lokmanya Tilak Varanasi Express from Dadar Station. The most exciting part of goint to Nasik was traveling thru the Western Ghats and watching the deep valleys on the side of the mountains. If I was traveling with an older cousin boy I would get to sit on the steps of the door of the train and watch the world go by, something that was completely forbidden by my grandmother. I’d get super excited when we passed thru tunnels and everything got dark. In Igatpuri, one of the stops closer to Nasik the train would stop just a tad bit longer. My grandmother would have tea and I had the yummy vadas Igatpuri is so famous for. My grandmother for sure made friends during those trips but don’t believe she had the means of keeping in touch with them after the journey was over. I secretly believed she looked forward to that trip a lot more than I did despite her always complaining about doing it.

    I would love to take my kids some day down that route and to spend some time with my dad’s sister who still lives on the farm in Nasik to this day. It was the best thing my parents could have done for my childhood.

  28. Anyone been on the Palace on Wheels? It’s one of my life dreams to travel like a princess…

    My borther and sister-in-law have. They travelled in this new class in Indian railways, the executive class. Mytake is right, I am told that in executive one is treated royally.

    However, the best part of Indian railways is third class. That is where fun is………People share food, play cards, and all.

    I have heard Indian Railways is undergoing a major overhaul. I tried to get a ticket from Delhi to Roorkee via Shadabdi Express this summer but couldn’t. Those trains are fully booked a week or more in advance.

  29. My memories are of sixteen hour Bombay-Goa-Bombay bus trips. The stench of feni, diesel, and jackfruit is unforgettable. And after graduating from college, before beginning work, i was returning to Goa for a week’s break. I woke up at about 8 , looked out the bus window, and the scenery looked odd. Turned out the Mandovi bridge had collapsed a half an hour before. Now there are two bridges and Konkan Railways. But nothing will compare to the excitement at Dhobi Talao, the haggling with the “cleander” to snag you a seat, climbing up the bus to make your luggage is secure. And the time an American on one of those bus trips had me listen to his walkman (yes, i have lived through that) and the track was Sting’s “The Russians Love their children Too” which blew me away.

  30. 5 · Yliram on December 24, 2006 08:23 PM My first experience on Indian trains was this summer…. I don’t have any favorites but here’s two of the many I DID have. I’m not sure if it’s good, bad or ugly. You decide. The first link is unbelievable but 100% true.

    http://www.xanga.com/yLiRaM/497556375/item.html http://www.xanga.com/yLiRaM/552297542/item.html

    OMG!! That was you!! I was so totally on that train, along with me girlfrenz (lolz!) and we were wonderin which freaking numbnutz would freakin stop a train with 2000 people, just so they can get their purse back! thanks for letting us know, now I can let my hijra friends do a cleaveland steamer next time you are in town.

    idiot.

  31. “OMG!! That was you!! I was so totally on that train, along with me girlfrenz (lolz!) and we were wonderin which freaking numbnutz would freakin stop a train with 2000 people, just so they can get their purse back! thanks for letting us know, now I can let my hijra friends do a cleaveland steamer next time you are in town.

    idiot.”

    Well, in mine and my 5-member family who came to India that summer, we had all our passports, money, credit cards, cellphone, and airplane tickets all in there. Without the purse we wouldn’t have gotten out of the country…so sorry for the inconvenience. They’re called “emergency chains” for a reason. (Plus, we all got off the train. Not like we asked to wait until we found the purse).

  32. I have a crazy train story that didn’t actually happen to me, but to my cousin…

    She was traveling from Hyderabad to Madras on the Charminar Express and there was a large cyclone–the tracks were flooded for days, on trains could pass, and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere. This was in the days before cell phones so none of us could talk to her. They had to have food packages dropped down to them by helicopter, and sleep on the train. A woman in the next berth went to sleep, and in the morning, they woke up to find her dead, and her diamond earrings had been stolen from her ears. Eventually the flood waters began to recede, but the train had to come back to Hyderabad. I think it was a long time before she got on a train again.

  33. like this post…

    my story, i was supposed to go to jaisalmer for a business trip to visit a children’s program we were funding inside the fort there. i, of course, missed my train that evening (the only train that goes to jaisalmer) — i hunted around the station, talked with the railways people and booked myself (and my traveling companion, non-hindi speaking american girl) on to the jodhpur train, we couldn’t get anything but the open class and we got on and realized we were traveling with 50+ college boys who were experts in the art of eve-teasing.

    one boy came up to me, “your father, he was a gardener right? right?” me: “ehhh?” him: “because you are such a beautiful flower…”

    it got better, one of the guys was getting uncomfortably close to my friend and being generally inappropriate with her personal space, i spoke to him in hindi, nicely at first, and then finally asking, “would you treat your sister like that?” — he scowled at me and walked away. until…

    on his way out of the train, he hit me, with his tiffin…. yes, i got wacked on the arm by a boy and his lunchbox.

    what a moment in life.

    other than that i have never enjoyed myself more than when traveling on trains, which i do less and less as air travel becomes much more affordable… but i still do savor the journey when possible.

  34. Guess I was always unlucky when it comes to train travel. All my friends used to come up with stories about hot encounters they had when on train… But I on the other hand was a) Once scammed by Idli vendor during a 2 minute stop who acted like the idlis were so hot right out of the steam cooker. Turned out it was cold as ice & hard as rock. But the train had left the station…. b) I and my classmates were chased out of our reserved seats with sugarcane sticks to make room for Bihari localites when on a Project tour. [Most traumatic] c) Lots of trips where I had to inhale the unwelcome smell of garlic spiced Biryani from fellow passengers. Besides it is fun to see pics of toilets here but not so much when U have to use them…

    But all said usually U are fine when travelling alone. My best train travel experience has been from Sakleshpur to Subhrahmanya. Its very scenic and the trains used be not very crowded. I don’t know if it has been restored of late.

  35. one boy came up to me, “your father, he was a gardener right? right?” me: “ehhh?” him: “because you are such a beautiful flower…”

    Priceless!! I have to remember that line.

  36. One train story:-

    I had to get from Hyderabad to Bombay very urgently. Apparently (and I didn’t know this at the time), when you buy a ticket for a station, it gives you the right to board the train. It doesn’t guarantee you a seat on the train. If you want to reserve a seat, you have to buy the reservation seperately. So, after I bought the ticket, the guy tells me that there are no seats available on the train. I had to get to Bombay on that train, and other people told me that I can nudge nudge wink wink buy a priority seat from the conductor. Well, I got into the train, and the train was packed. People were sleeping on the floor. I couldn’t get to nudge nudge wink wink the conductor, because apparently he had been nudge nudge wink winked enough that I couldn’t find him. So, I spent the whole journey standing near the toilet. In the morning, some nice person let me sit on the “extra seat”, the one where your one ass is on the seat and the other ass is hanging out, and I fell asleep on it.

    Hopefully, I didn’t drool on the guy

  37. So, I spent the whole journey standing near the toilet.

    Been there. It was my worst ever train experience in India. Back in the early 90s, I was 19, and my 21 year old cousin and I were travelling around India that summer. Both of us ABDs who, although we could speak Hindi, had no clue how to go about buying tickets or about the different ‘class’ compartments, how to actually get a seat, etc. So I think we were somewhere in Maharashtra, en route from Ajanta/Ellora back to Mumbai where my bua lived. We had to change trains at some tiny town somewhere in rural Maharashtra (Satna?)…when we got off at that station, we ended up spending ELEVEN hours waiting for the Mumbai train…all that time without food or water. We even left the station and went looking for restaurants or dhabas (again, this was a TINY town in the early 90s). For some reason, the 2 or 3 places we tried had all RUN OUT OF FOOD. In the main bazaar, there weren’t even fruits for sale…nothing. The station itself didn’t have a store or a stand selling any snacks or water. So anyway, the train finally rolled in, and we ended up in the 3rd class compartment, full of Bihari laborers en route to Mumbai as well. I literally had to stand near this bathroom (that got progressively more disgusting every 15 minutes) for the WHOLE ride. And the Bihari passengers, most of whom were young, rural guys, gave us the distinct impression that if we looked at them the wrong way, they would all jump us at once. That didn’t make things any more pleasant. After all that, we got caught in a 3 hour traffic jam in Mumbai, from the station to my bua’s house. The shower I took, and the food/water I consumed late that night at her home probably rank as some of the best experiences in my life.

  38. had no clue how to go about buying tickets or about the different ‘class’ compartments, how to actually get a seat, etc

    In past, you had stand in @ a station booth or use a middle man to buy tickets. Now, they do have a website, and you get an e-ticket, or delivered through a courier. They accept Indian credit cards online too. You can have your online account, but six months ago, it only accepted Indian debit and credit cards.

    We all have travelled standing near the toilet, I think it is inescaple if a part of your jouney, one has not booked tickets in well in advance.

    Two-three weeks ago, my brother travelled in executive class. He told me only Indians in his coach were politicians. I guess it is quite expensive.

  39. I’ve only been on two train trips in India but I loved them both. Delhi-Amritsar highlight: the nonstop snacks, including jam and whitey white bread. Overnight Kolkata-Varanasi: sleeper cars with a paper packet of sheets and blanket and the flip-down bunks and privacy curains – like Some Like It Hot in all the right ways.

  40. I had a fabulous experience riding the Mumbai locals for the two years that I lived in Mumbai. Here is an excerpt from my blog, which is linked to my name above.

    I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the classes in the Bombay local trains. The price difference for a ticket from Bandra to King’s Circle is virtually unaffordable for the average Bombay-ite. Five rupees in second class versus Rs. 70+ (my memory is fuzzy) first class. Most second class riders will say, “in first class, you are being pushed in the same way by more expensive elbows. Tch tch what a waste.” I agree. Plus, there are way more interesting things that happen in the 2nd class compartments.

    The biggest thing I learned from riding the trains was the evolution of progress. When I arrived in Bombay in July 04, beyond track 7 of Bandra Station (Harbour Line going to VT) I saw a family that had perhaps just arrived in Bombay. Their shelter consisted of a tent made of plastic and cloth, precariously supported by wooden poles, unevenly. By the time I left in March 06, the same family had turned the tent into a square shed like structure, with 4 walls and a roof. I am sure they still don’t have access to running water, health care, or a toilet and are probably living on land that is not legally theirs; but in the struggle for roti, capra, aur makan, possessing one of them is certainly a start.

  41. I took one train journey from Delhi to Nasik (Maharashtra) to obtain darsan at the tomb of Shirdi Sai Baba. I went with an uncle AC second class – the rationale being that there were no first class sleepers and this was a very long journey. It was an interesting experience: chatting with hospitable clerks who shared their roti-sabzi and revealed black and white photos of their kiddies; sleeping in the top bunker and worrying that my head would crash into the ceiling; reading bawdy little joke books by Kushwant Singh late into the night; having piping hot tea and fresh fruits at the many stops; getting tipsy from swigs of whiskey brought along in my portable flask; making eyes at pretty girls; singing bhajans…great way for an ABD to learn a little about India. Though I can speak Hindi semi-fluently, I was constantly singled out as a firangi; there is no escaping that, even if one prances about in a lungi.

  42. I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the classes in the Bombay local trains. The price difference for a ticket from Bandra to King’s Circle is virtually unaffordable for the average Bombay-ite. Five rupees in second class versus Rs. 70+ (my memory is fuzzy) first class. Most second class riders will say, “in first class, you are being pushed in the same way by more expensive elbows. Tch tch what a waste.” I agree. Plus, there are way more interesting things that happen in the 2nd class compartments.

    I would take the 2nd class in Bombay local trains over 1st class anyday. I used travelled from Andheri to Thane almost everyday (yes, I took the Western line all the way upto Dadar and Central down to Thane). Initially, I bought a 1st class pass, but then I switched to 2nd class in a month. Passengers in 1st class have a bigger sense of entitlement, and they demand personal space more than 2nd class passengers. 2nd class passengers have a sense of camraderie. 1st class passengers will shout at you if you invade their space. 2nd class passengers will try to make space for you. It was much more difficult for me to get into a 1st class compartment because everyone needs elbow room. I had to take the train that starts from Andheri/Dadar if I wanted to get into a 1st class compartment, whereas in a 2nd class I could squeeze in or atleast get space to hang out of the door. It needs getting used to, but the 2nd class compartment is way better than 1st class even if you can afford the 1st class ticket. Actually, for a month or so, I was travelling 2nd class with my 1st class pass

    Speaking of interesting, I had one horrible experience of having my ass grabbed near Mahim in a 2nd class compartment. I bet I was bound to run into a gay perv sooner or later. Once, I was next to 2 guys who were hanging out of the door, wearing clip-on earrings and talking to each other with an effeminate lilt in their speech. As soon as the train arived at the station, they would take of the earrings, switch to masculine voice, get off the train, let everyone climb back on and then get back on. As soon as the train left the station, the earrings and the voice would come back on. It was truly bizzare.

  43. Kalka-Shimla by rail car. stop on the way for breakfast. someone in an earlier post mentioned that the name of the station was barog. I agree about the omelettes though. awesome!! and this was in 1991 I think………

    On that trip, I was in the upper berth of the 2nd AC where the berth opposite mine, was occupied by a non-Indian. I used to have this air pillow that I hated. pulled the plug out and the hissing noise was enough to scare the poor lady. had to fight hard to keep myself from laughing out loud.

    craziest experience!! traveling on the Bokaro-Steel City express. old man (75+) tried to get off the train as it was pulling into the platform, misjudged the height of the platform and lost his leg…… I was much younger when I saw that happen. Could never sleep on trains before that and have never slept after that either……